Searching for a Model to Break Impunity in Ukraine

Is there a global model emerging to break the cycle of impunity for corruption that could be used in Ukraine? This was what I wanted to assess when I visited Ukraine last month in my capacity as chair of Transparency International, the global anti-corruption movement.

Having met with most of the relevant authorities, including President Poroshenko, the Minister of Justice, the General Prosecutor and the Parliamentary Anti-corruption committee and with Ukraine’s main donors, the press and with civil society organisations one thing was abundantly clear: there is no trust in the current system.

While a sense of hopelessness pervaded some of my conversations, experience shows that the situation can be fixed using either a home-grown approach that tackles core obstacle to change, like transforming the judiciary in Ukraine, or asking outsiders to act as neutral observers, partner, trainers and facilitators of change like the successful International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala.

All figures in authority are compromised because the corrupt are still at large. The grand corruption cases against former president Yanukovych and his cronies are stalled because of systemic problems in the judicial system. There are constant references to links between high level officials and the interests of Ukrainian oligarchs. This is not big business operating within a country, but rather it is too often those who control immense wealth pulling the strings in corrupt circles linked to the authorities.

This situation has led the government to approve a package of measures to tackle corruption: these include the creation of an Investigative Bureau, an Anticorruption Prevention Agency, an electronic system of asset declaration by public officers and an electronic tool for procurement (Pro-Zorro).

The justice administration system, however, is considered a key problem with a high perception of corruption and inefficiency. The Minister of Justice mentioned that 12 judges are under investigation accused of corrupt practices. For that reason the president has appointed someone of his confidence as the General Prosecutor, even though he is not a lawyer.

The government is also debating a proposal to create an Anti-corruption Court.

This is an interesting idea that civil society organisations and the authorities need to take further.  Some believe that the option would be to create a panel of international personalities to appoint the members of the Court and to include among the judges a number of international jurists that can assure an independent, honest and professional justice administration.

Others are looking into the experience of the CICIG, the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala. This commission was created by United Nations and installed in Guatemala in 2008.

The CICIG is headed by a former international Prosecutor and is made up of about 30 international investigators of different nationalities. They work together with an elite unit of local prosecutors conducting investigations of crimes of high impact.

This model has proved very efficient. The CICIG not only has solved outstanding criminal cases but has also contributed to building up the investigative capacity of the Guatemalan prosecutors and the judges that have worked with it. The former president and vice-president of Guatemala are now behind bars after the commission exposed an extended scheme of fraud and corruption. Before the CICIG started its work, the level of impunity in Guatemala was over 90%, meaning that 9 of each 10 cases of high impact crimes never were taken to justice and if so, the authors remained impune.

Taking this model as a starting point and tailoring it to the Ukrainian reality could be a starting point to solving the gross deficiencies that currently exist in the judicial system.

Transparency International has proposed taking this discussion to a neutral forum, the International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC), which will take place by the end of this year in Panama. Here we can bring together leading international experts to develop a practical implementation plan for Ukraine.

After the IACC, the discussion should move back to Kiev where it would make sense for top leading investigators to sit down with policy makers. Transparency International can help convene this panel. The corrupt have gone unpunished for too long. 2017 must be the year to establish a mechanism to break impunity and deal with the situation of grand corruption in Ukraine.

A column serves to express the personal opinion of the author. It does not aim to be objective or comprehensive about the topic in question. The opinion of Ukrayinska Pravda editors may differ from that of the author. The editors are not responsible for the factual accuracy and interpretation of the information, our media outlet hereby only serves as a platform.